So here is chapter 3! Yay! Thanks to the follows, favorites, and people reading!

Artemis 34: Thanks so much! I'm not much into modeling either but the idea came to me, so yeah. Piper is in this chapter too! :)

Chapter Three

Annabeth

Three more shoots later, modeling was boring. The same routine, smiles, bossy photographers and sweet but egocentric models. The highlights were when I had the same shooting schedule as Piper. We were becoming quite the pair, almost always in double's shots.

"I swear," Piper joked one day, "I never had this much attention till you came, Annabeth dear. You'll make me like all the other models for sure. I've been corrupted!" Piper put a hand on her forehead and sighed dramatically. I snorted and shoved her.

"Please," I retorted. "You'll always steal the light, no matter if I'm there or not." She laughed and we continued walking to the clothing racks.

After a particularly long day, Piper was in a bad mood.

"I am serious," she growled. "I could kill whoever invented modeling."

"Believe, if I could I would," I assured her, thinking of Aphrodite. "If only she would listen." Piper looked at me a bit strangely but shrugged it off and waved good-bye as she left.

For my fifth shoot, we went out into this big park and were modeling summer clothing. It was only spring, but fashion always has to be ready. Summer was approaching, though (only three more months!), and I was looking forward to camp. I also had a sneaking suspicion about Piper and I wanted to talk to Thalia about her.

Well, for this shoot, we were collaborating with another agency who, opposite of Penny, specialized in boys. There was a lot of looking in mirrors and adjusting hair before the boys arrived. Piper and I were the only apparently sane ones left, but Piper couldn't help but be a bit excited. I knew I was too, though I would never admit it.

When all the girls were dressed in cute sun dresses or shirts and shorts, and people were adjusting sandal straps, hats, and sunglasses, the boys arrived.

"Damn, they're fine," Piper muttered at me. I giggled and tried not to laugh out loud at all the girls checking out the guys and trying to be inconspicuous about it.

Some of the guys noticed the stares and either smirked or smiled, depending on their personalities. I quickly averted my eyes.

Soon all the equipment was set up, props were out, and the boys were in their outfits. With all guys, there was an equal ratio of girls to guys, and Penny and the boy's managers, Sue and Damian, set about introducing people. Piper already had to fend off several pick up lines.

The photographers started placing groups and couples in different places in the meadow we were shooting in. I noticed they kept well away from the shadows cast by the trees surrounding the meadow, but also had the groups looking naturally spread out.

I was placed in a group with four guys and three other girls. We were supposed to be lounging around a picnic blanket, eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade. Of course, Penny pointed out, we weren't actually going to eat the food. No, that would ruin our make-up. And the sandwiches looked so good too.

"So," I started awkwardly, "we really can't eat these sandwiches?" Two of the guys laughed and I felt my face flush. Then someone came to my defense.

"She has a point, guys," this boy said. "The sandwiches really look delicious." This just made the two boys laugh harder and I scrutinized my so-called defender to see if he was just making fun of me.

This guy looked pretty tall, but we were sitting down, so I couldn't really tell. He had short, black hair and tanned skin. He was muscular, but so were all the guy models here, and he had a strong jaw. He was very relaxed and seemed carefree, almost like a troublemaker. His outfit was a bit more ruffled than the other guys'. However, I couldn't tell his intentions. You know the saying "The eyes are the window to the soul"? Well, all the guys here were wearing sunglasses as part of the shoot, and I couldn't see his eyes.

I was unsure, so I stayed silent. Luckily, the boy noticed and straightened a bit from his lounging position.

"I'm serious," he said earnestly. "Sandwiches are my favorite food. Besides blue things." All the girls looked at him weirdly, but all the guys started cracking up.

"We call him Blue," said one guy. "He loves blue food. If it can be blue, he wants it blue."

"He also has an irrational obsession with the ocean," the second boy contributed.

"It's not irrational," Blue mumbled.

"Yeah right!" All the guys laughed, and the girls soon joined in.

I was surprised by camera flashes. I'd forgotten we were in a shoot. I just felt so relaxed. I knew that was what the photographers craved, too. Genuine feelings in fake situations. All of the models around me stiffened too, as if they'd felt just as at ease as me.

We laughed and talked more, never really introducing ourselves, just talking. It was peaceful.

The trouble came at break. Guys and gals were mingling, sipping water and, in some cases, flirting. I'd slipped away from the main group to stand in the shade of the trees. That's when I heard a growl.

Automatically, I reached to the small of my back were my celestial bronze knife was cleverly concealed. I drew it and calmly set my water cup down as I turned around.

Two glowing red eyes stared back at me.

They focused on my blade and the growl deepened. I knew I had to lead the monster, probably a hellhound, away. I took a glance around, saw nobody, then casually started walking to my left. I could feel the monster's eyes on me.

When I felt far enough away from the hellhound, I entered the forest, stealth as a jungle cat. I was then struck with an idea. Aren't cats chased by dogs? So why wouldn't a hellhound chase a girl?

So instead of taunting the monstrous dog to follow me, I simply made eye contact with it, and sprinted away.

I could here the hellhound behind me and glanced back to make sure I was being followed. I was. I whipped my head around in time to narrowly avoid a tree, leap over a bush, and duck under a branch. I started blessing all the wardrobe people who had put me in flats, denim shorts and a flowy shirt instead of a dress and sandals, like Piper.

I cursed my sunglasses, though, wishing I had thought to take them off. They were great for the sunny meadow but horrible for the dark woods. I also knew that the hair lady had meticulously gathered my hair up then pinned my sunglasses to my hair, sealing it all with enough hairspray to create its own hole in the ozone layer. This meant that I would lose valuable time taking them off, as they would be hard to get off. With my luck, I would probably also stab myself in the eye with the glasses if I tried to take them off.

Once I deemed we were far enough from the shoot, I readied myself to turn around and face the hellhound. I scanned the ground so I wouldn't trip and did an about face. Unluckily, I must've missed something because my foot caught and I went flying backwards, breaking through a bush and falling into a clearing. My knife had fallen somewhere when I tripped, probably closer to the hellhound than to me.

My brain scrambled for a plan, my eyes darting around for anything useful. My eyes were overloaded from the light but I managed to grab a branch, readying myself for the fight to come.

Oooh, a bit of a cliffhanger! I really wanted to do that. Chapter 4 will come soon though, along with a certain person named after a color...

Thanks for reading! Please review with any kind of feedback! =D